Tag: solving problems

Wouldn’t it be nice if all the decisions we need to make could be resolved by selecting an option from a menu? It seems like all of those offering us digital products and services want us to do so. “You don’t need to think anymore,” they say. “Just choose from our menus and we’ll do the rest.” Of course, life

Dan, a senior executive, recently told me of driving around in his prized 1977 Chevy pickup with his 16-year-old grandson. “Hey Grandpa,” the young man said, while holding a latte, “Where are the cup holders?” “We didn’t have cup holders forty years ago,” answered Dan who then added, “Roll down the window. Let’s get some air in here.” It took

A lot has been written recently about the skills gap facing today’s economy. Researchers credit several sources for this phenomenon. First, the Baby Boomers will finally retire in droves over the next decade. Second, there has been a diminished interest in the hard sciences, resulting in a deficit of healthcare professionals and scientific researchers. Third, significantly fewer young people are

When I was a kid, I had a job that no longer exists – a paper route. I had 150 customers. Every afternoon, I would get out of school and rush to a house two blocks away, where I would pick up 150 papers from the local distributor. I would fold them, stack them in a wagon with high slatted sides

My wife and I just spent a wonderful week in Hawaii, a chance to relax and reflect. Of course, my mind is never far from the topic of decision making. The first night we were there, Wendy discovered the clothes iron in our room wasn’t working. She called the hotel’s front desk to ask for a replacement. Five minutes later,

Do you learn best from success or failure? Upon reflection, most people will say failure. The question is what do you learn? Mistakes can cause all kinds of heartburn, fear, and frustration. But they are a fact of life. When you make a mistake, you are really faced with two choices: 1) You can relive the event, wallow in it

Dishwashing is a chore that most people try to avoid. There are even jokes about guys eating out of anything that will hold food just to skip this mindless task. But Bill Gates says he likes it. Yes, that Bill Gates. A couple of years ago, Gates mentioned that “I do the dishes every night — other people volunteer, but

I am inherently curious. Offer me a factory tour and I’m there. Give me a chance to visit a new city and I’m all over it. I like nothing better than the “ah-has” that come with learning something new. Over the years, this curiosity has served me well as I’ve interacted with a spectrum of clients in a wide variety

Ten years ago, British educator Sir Ken Robinson presented his widely hailed TED talk entitled Do Schools Kill Creativity? The recording has now been viewed close to 40,000,000 times. Buried inside his many points is a simple statement – “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” To me, this encapsulates much of why

In the 1970’s, economist Herbert Stein coined the term satisficing. He defined it as not making the best decision but the one that’s good enough. In the big picture, we satisfice lots of times every day. In some situations, our choices come down to, “Life’s too short.” In others, we decide not to “rock the boat.” In still others, “there’s